The present invention relates to golf tube or golf club separators. Golfers typically place polyethylene tubes in their bags and insert the handles of their clubs into the tubes. A myriad of prior art devices have been developed to separate these tubes.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,114,870 to Calkins discloses a sponge rubber separator comprised of a disc with a downwardly depending apron which fits over the top of the golf bag. There are holes in the disc through which the golf clubs can be inserted. Such a disc could also be used to separate golf club tubes and for purposes of the present invention, the separation of golf clubs per se or the separation of golf club tubes will be considered generally equivalent for purposes of the present invention.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,255, Mangan discloses a separator disc for insertion into the top of the golf bag opening. It is made of polyurethane or foam rubber and includes a bottom channel to seat over cross braces in the golf bag. It also includes a plurality of holes therethrough to accommodate golf club tubes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,115 to Longo discloses a similar type of separator made of an expanded foam polypropylene dioxide-based triol. It too is inserted into the upper opening of a golf club bag and includes a plurality of holes for golf club tubes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,879,819, Turnbull discloses a molded polyethylene separator molded to the shape of a portion of the bag opening. It too includes openings for golf clubs or golf club tubes.
The problem with all of the prior art devices is that the manufacturer has to provide a plurality of different sized discs and a plurality of different shaped discs to accommodate the numerous bags on the market with different sized openings. While the compressible foam discs such as those disclosed in Longo and Mangan will compress somewhat to accommodate different sized and different shaped bags, they cannot effectively accommodate the full range of golf club bags without being made of a material which is so flexible and floppy that it will not hold its proper shape in normal use.